


Deal with It, Cutie

by speckledsolanaceae



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21869020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speckledsolanaceae/pseuds/speckledsolanaceae
Summary: Some gifts are harder to hide than others, and keeping a secret is definitely one of the hardest.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 15
Kudos: 154
Collections: DreamXmas 2019





	Deal with It, Cutie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UpInOrbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpInOrbit/gifts).



> This was a Secret Santa gift for someone I've never met before! I was given a selection of three prompts, and I ran with the one that came the most easily to me (though all the prompts were amazing). Merry DreamXmas to Val! I dearly hope you enjoy ♡

“I’m going to clean the apartment today,” Jeno announces, and Jaemin stares as he stretches out his back, the muscles bunching and straightening, and Jaemin wishes he considered putting a shirt on in the mornings.

“No you’re not,” Jaemin says without thinking, and Jeno stills with his hand on the refrigerator door. 

“Huh?” He turns, confused in the way he tilts his head. His bed hair doesn’t budge, sticking out on the left side still.

“Uh,” Jaemin says, and fails to compute anything useful. “I need you to wait.”

Jaemin can hear the cat gently thud into something in the bedroom with the silence that ensues.

“You need me to… wait? To clean?” Jeno asks. He doesn’t go on to ask why. He doesn’t need to. The ridiculousness of the request is enough on its own.

Jaemin misses his mouth with the metal straw of his coffee. It nearly goes up his nose. “I asked Renjun to help me clean this weekend,” he says, and Jeno’s expression is morphing slowly from confused to intrigued, like he’s watching a baby bat swim for the first time.

“Huh,” he says. “Okay.”

Jaemin feels like he might be sweating, so he breaks eye contact and sucks on his straw so hard it nearly shoots straight through his brain.

“You look cute,” Jeno prods, like he’s testing the waters, and Jaemin squirms in his oversized sleeping shirt and festering lies. Jeno tries again. “Are you upset with me?”

Jaemin can’t help but tense, and when he looks around, Jeno is a step closer, leaning on the kitchen counter. He doesn’t look worried, but Jaemin still says, “No.”

Jeno searches his eyes, takes a breath, then, “Can I clean the kitchen?”

Jaemin’s mind flutters frantically through what things Jeno could find in the kitchen and comes up with nothing. With a sigh of relief, Jaemin sags. “Yeah. Yeah, the kitchen’s fine.” 

With that, Jeno smiles with his eyes and returns to the refrigerator, no longer deterred from his task. Jaemin tries to prevent heartburn by finishing his coffee in a single inhale. It has the opposite effect.

* * *

He has not asked Renjun to clean the coming weekend, and when Jaemin is left to his own devices, he stares into the apartment and rues that he had to deny Jeno the opportunity. It’s a mess—not because they’re messy creatures. This is their home, and they keep it tidy because it matters. It’s just been one hell of a week and until this morning, they hadn’t had a single moment to slow down.

One of Jeno’s dress shirts is slung across the back of the couch, discarded from the single night they managed to do anything aside from succumb to gravity and immediately lose consciousness. It’s wrinkled now, much like Jaemin’s enthusiasm, which feels a little crumpled in light of the lie he won’t be able to shove under the rug unless he tells a bigger lie (“Oh Renjun couldn’t manage. He’s busy.” Cue Jeno knowing somehow that Renjun’s been free the entire weekend and Jaemin pulled a lie out of his ass. Cue confusion. Cue curiosity and wariness.)

He texts Renjun.

**To:** ***＊✿❀** **Injunnie** **❀✿＊***

Hey~~! How are you?  (❁ ´ ◡ ` ❁)

How do you feel about helping me clean this weekend?

**From:** ***＊✿❀** **Injunnie** **❀✿＊***

wtf no

**To:** ***＊✿❀** **Injunnie** **❀✿＊***

( ‘ ᵔ ‘ )

Jaemin’s not surprised per se, but he is put out and nervous, which he knows would be a deal breaker for Renjun if he actually chooses to share. But really… he put himself in this mess, so he needs to get himself out.

It’s difficult to hide the traces of Jaemin’s gift for Jeno—they would be less so if 1) he was less anxious to prepare extensively weeks in advance or 2) they were less large. He’s had to absolutely scrounge time in awkward places just so he can hide what things he already has bought, which is stupid. It’s just his luck Jeno and he share nearly the same hours with their respective jobs, and Jeno’s such a homebody it’s like uprooting a tree to get him out of the apartment.

In the twenty minutes or so that Jaemin has of being Jeno-free before he has to leave for the homeless shelter, he stares at the top shelf of their messy closet and gnaws at his lips. The precariously balanced  _ thing _ shoved in the corner is the least conspicuous of his gifts, though not necessarily the most conspicuous.  _ That  _ one is shoved deep in the bottom drawer of their bedside table. ANd god, not to even mention what he’s shoved away in the boiler cabinet.

He knows very well that Christmas gifts shouldn’t be anxiety-inducing, but there’s something about how gently unaffected Jeno is with receiving gifts. It’s like he suspects things before he gets them. Or maybe that’s too much credit. Maybe gifts just don’t touch him that way. Everyone has their love languages. Jeno’s is without a doubt Quality Time, and Jaemin needs Words of Affirmation like he needs coffee, but he also needs Jeno to be truly moved by a gift at least once.

After that, he can rest.

* * *

**To: Jen ♡**

I’ll be home a little late!

**From: Jen ♡**

like don’t heat up the leftovers kind of late?

**To: Jen ♡**

Like DO heat up the leftovers kind of late

I’ll be back around 7

（○｀ 3′○）Don’t miss me too much!

**From: Jen ♡**

yessir

will definitely miss you with my whole entire being

Jeno understands Jaemin’s need for dramatic words of affirmation quite keenly. It’s nice. Makes his stomach bubble like a love potion.

Even still, Jaemin is anxious in the way he fumbles his phone away, knotting his fingers together and praying like an atheist damned that Jeno will stick to his word and not touch anything outside of the kitchen. Jaemin hid the one thing he could have found in the cabinets underneath the couch, but god forbid Jeno gets curious and starts looking in strange places.

He filled out the paperwork some time ago, but wasn’t able to pick the real focus up until now, leg jiggling as he manages a fit of excitement and nerves in the dinky plastic chair he’s sitting in. He bites his lips and picks at his nails and waits for the little clickity-click of paws and clipped nails.

It’s really hard to hide a whole dog bed in the closet, and dog food in the boiler storage, and a collar and dog bowls and a leash and... Jaemin is rarely this stressed. He thinks the dog senses it almost immediately, because even as the door opens and the dog sniffs her way through, she baulks at Jaemin and his reaching fingers.

“I’m really nervous,” he tells the lady who has the little one leashed. He probably shouldn’t think of the pup as little. She’s a year and a half and white as whipped cream, but almost makes it to his knees on all fours, and he’s got long legs.

“She should remember you. Just give her a moment,” said the assistant lady, pulling the leash just a little to let the dog closer. Jaemin holds his hands out slowly and looks at the samoyed’s bright dark eyes. Her nose is cold as it brushes his fingertips, then presses into his palm.

“Hi, sweet one,” he croaks, and barely resists combing his fingers through her coat. Poyo is the name the kennel had given her, and Jaemin’s endeared somehow to a creature he hasn’t even named.

* * *

Immediately upon seeing her, Jisung looks like he’s been shot through the heart. It’s relatable. “Oh my god. Can I touch it?”

“Her. And give her a moment,” Jaemin says, feeling her warmth up against his legs. “She just experienced public transport. She’s a little skittish.” And she is. She’s pressing up against him like an overwhelmed protester.

In light of how close they live to Jisung and Chenle, Jaemin had asked them if they were willing to keep Poyo for the few days leading up to Christmas Eve. He hadn’t dared ask them to keep everything else if only because they were doing enough just volunteering to care for her, but he has with him enough food for three days and a slew of other possible necessities as well. The kennel wasn’t open in the days leading up to Christmas, and he wouldn’t have wanted to brave the traffic with a dog during that time anyway.

“How well trained is she?” Chenle asks from behind Jisung, who has crouched and initiated a staring contest of curiosity with Poyo.

“They say very well, but she’s food motivated, so be careful,” Jaemin says, and watches as Poyo finally crosses the threshold and sniffs at Jisung’s hands. “Samoyeds are smart. She’ll steal your lunch.”

“Haven’t had my lunch stolen since grade school,” Jisung murmurs and smiles brightly when he’s permitted the opportunity to scratch behind Poyo’s expressive ears. Chenle looks bothered by the joke, but it passes quickly as Jaemin launches into what they’ll need to provide for her while dogsitting.

“This is really a Christmas present on its own—getting to look after this cute one,” Jisung says, effervescent now that Poyo has determined his thumb worthy of a curious bout of gnawing. Jaemin suspects he hardly listened to any of his spiel.

“Yes, well,” says Jaemin, “I got you gifts anyway. I’ll hand them over when I collect her.” With a sigh, he gives over the leash and rubs his face. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this for me.”

Chenle snorts and rolls his eyes. “I’m sure we’ll live.”

* * *

The weekend slaps Jaemin in the face the very next day, and the weight of his lies after the previous night is a massive burden. He has had to tell Jeno that he had to run an errand for work, and now he has to pretend like Renjun had dipped on him. And he has to clean, which is not his favorite activity. Not by a long shot.

“I was thinking I could stay out of your way for when Renjun comes over,” Jeno says, drying his hair by harassing it with a towel, “by heading over to Chenle and Jisung’s, maybe? Chenle and I have to finish watching Stranger Things.”

_ “No!” _

Jeno startles, nearly dropping the cloth, and stares at Jaemin. It’s more of an amazed squint, actually, since he hasn’t put his glasses on. “Jaemin?” Jeno says, voice verging on delicate, and Jaemin’s burning up on the bed. 

Jaemin swallows, trying to shove down his own blush from his chest. “Renjun had to cancel. Stay and clean with me?”

Jeno straightens, but doesn’t stop squinting. “Is something going on?”

For a terrifying moment, Jaemin has about fifteen different responses crowding his brain all at once, but he settles on one he thinks will be best. Hopes Jeno can trust him. “Yes. Yeah, there is, but it’s not bad,” he says, voice a little squeaky under the strain. “Please don’t think too much about it.”

Seconds pass between them like fireflies blinking madly in morse code for What The Fuck Is Going On?

“Okay,” Jeno says slowly. “What happens if I think too much about it?”

“I’ll be sad,” Jaemin says immediately.

Jeno lets out a breath, but relaxes almost helplessly. “Alright. I won’t think about it.”

Jaemin relaxes, too, and uproots himself from his position against the pillows to crawl toward his boy. “Thank you.”

Jeno accepts the kiss Jaemin offers, though tentatively, and Jaemin feels the pressure start to gnaw at his bones.

* * *

Cleaning with Jeno is just shy of a disaster. He has to corral him away from the danger zones like a puppy, which is stupidly ironic and is wearing him down quickly. Jaemin’s not a bad liar, but he doesn’t enjoy it, and it exhausts him like taffy stretching past its candy-ordained limit.

Jeno is patient, of course, because Jaemin’s asked him to be (more or less). Every time Jaemin pulls him away or nudges him in another direction, he steals a kiss stained with something like concern and wonder. Jaemin continues the pleading mantra inside his head.

* * *

The rest of the days leading up to the event reveals Jeno’s mannerisms when he’s in the dark. He skims around Jaemin gently, like he’s not sure if he needs space or more love. Really, Jaemin needs him to stay away from any cabinetry and drawers.

While he’s dug this hole and is determined to lie in it, now, Jaemin has also determined never to keep even a good secret like this from Jeno ever again. It’s the pits.

* * *

It’s five in the morning when Jaemin shudders awake on Christmas Eve. Jeno’s smashed into the bed and pillows like a barnacle, limbs akimbo, and Jaemin can hardly breathe as he stows himself into what can maybe pass for civilian clothing.

It wasn’t particularly intentional—moving into the same building Chenle and Jisung live in—but damn if it wasn’t convenient for smuggling dogs.

Chenle hands Poyo off with a yawn-stifled murmur of how good she was (for which Jaemin is relieved) and hardly comprehends the wrapped gifts he’s handed in lieu of a leash.

“What are these?” he grumbles with his hair in his face like a ruffled, ashy curtain.

“My thanks,” says Jaemin, enjoying the curious licks Poyo is administering to his bare knuckles. “Merry Christmas.”

“Eve,” Chenle mutters, but looks a smidgen brighter and more awake. “We have a gift for you two, too, but it’s not arrived yet.”

Jaemin chuckles and pets the soft hair between Poyo’s eyes. “Bummer. I’m excited, though.” He reaches out with his free hand to ruffle Chenle’s hair, then steps away from the doorway. “Say hi to Jisung’s family for me!” Chenle nods sleepily as Jaemin ducks back down the hallway. “Love you,” he chirps, suspecting Chenle will allow the affection from sheer sleepiness alone.

He partially does, lips tucking into a fond grimace. “Bye.”

* * *

Jaemin nudges Poyo into the apartment and tries to close the door as softly as possible. He can’t manage to pull out the dog bed without waking Jeno up, he’s pretty sure, but getting everything else might be manageable. 

He has one foot out of his slippers when Jeno says, “Oh my god.” and Jaemin jumps right out of his skin. He nearly shrieks, too, aborting the sound midway through into something strangled, but the effort is foiled by Poyo barking at Jeno, who yet again is only wearing underwear and glasses.

“What the  _ hell,  _ Jeno?” Jaemin cries, “Why are you awake?”

Jeno looks both hurt and betrayed in the low light of a single table lamp lit next to the couch. “You weren’t in bed. I was lonely. Why is there a dog?”

With one swift movement, Jaemin jerks off his slipper and throws it straight at Jeno to thwack him in the chest. Jeno startles, but isn’t budged, really. “It was meant to be a surprise!” Jaemin cries, rapidly annoyed and doubly distressed.

“I’m surprised!” Jeno defends, nudging the fallen slipper with his foot. “I’m very surprised. I woke up alone and now there’s a very cute dog barking at me.” He shifts his attention ever so briefly to Poyo, who isn’t sure what to make of this new man, and says very sweetly, “Hello.” Her barking subsides, which Jaemin’s grateful for given the fact that their neighbors can be aggressive.

Jaemin, in that moment, exists somewhere between fury, disappointment, and vexing endearment. It manifests as an expression he knows he’s never worn before, but he thinks it feels somewhat near a pout. “Merry Christmas,” he says, sounding a little numb but mostly frustrated. “Her name is Poyo and I got her for you.”

“Oh,” Jeno says, and the word is so soft that the more negative emotions brewing in Jaemin’s belly get nerfed almost immediately. He softens, and crouches to unhook Poyo from her leash. She approaches with caution, pointed ears raised in more curiosity than fear. “Oh, okay.”

With just his underwear and glasses, Jeno crouches for her and is almost immediately accepted, Poyo’s pink tongue giving a kiss to his wrist as he reaches to brush through her fur. “Poyo?”

“Poyo,” Jaemin confirms, hugging himself to contain the little disappointment he has left. This did not go anything like he had planned.

Jeno hums and nuzzles her neck where the fur is thick and warm. “She’s lovely. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jeno looks up and registers whatever feelings are undoubtedly manifesting on Jaemin’s face, and Jaemin feels irreparably insecure. He blinks, and then his eyebrows furrow and he stops petting Poyo, who’s too new and nervous to be demanding. “Jaemin?”

There’s tears somewhere in Jaemin’s throat that won’t come out, but it makes his voice creaky and unstable. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I didn’t do this well at all.”

“What are you talking about?” Jeno asks, looking confused and verging dangerously close to unhappy. Jeno’s consistent—he’s happy when others are happy and bothered when others are bothered. He makes for a good companion because of this, and with the right person, an even better partner. Jaemin thinks they’re matched well, but there’s some distress in realizing that Jeno will be upset if he is as well. Jaemin struggles to curb this feeling of failure, and isn’t quite awake and rested enough to manage it.

“I feel like none of my gifts are ever good enough, and I wanted her to surprise you and make you happy and I feel like,” Jaemin says, and swallows through the tightness in his throat somehow, against all odds, “I’ve failed again.”

Jeno’s expression crinkles and furls into something upset and truly unhappy, and he stands. He moves to draw Jaemin in, tugging at his arms to enfold him and nestle his face in the crook of his neck. “You haven’t failed at all. I didn’t suspect a dog, and I’m surprised, and very happy, and so excited. I’m just bad at expressing it. Please don’t be sad.”

Jaemin holds tightly to Jeno and feels pathetic as he melts in his arms. “You’re not lying to me?”

“No. Of course not. Jaemin, she’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten aside from your love. Thank you so much. My gifts pale in comparison. Trust me. Now  _ I’m _ nervous.” Jeno’s voice rumbles warmly against Jaemin’s skin, and he can feel the tears slip free. They feel less bad this way, though, and feel more like trusting relief. It’s what he feels. He trusts Jeno to be telling the truth.

In the midst of the hug, Poyo whines and nudges at their ankles with her wet nose.

“I love her,” Jeno reiterates. “And I love you.” Jeno squeezes tight enough to dislodge two or three more tears before withdrawing enough to brush them away with his thumbs. “I really thought you were upset with me.”

Jaemin sniffles and readjusts Jeno’s glasses, which are slightly askew after the nuzzling he did. “I’m a little frustrated right now, but I was just trying to keep a secret.” Jaemin knows he’s pouting, now, but Jeno seems significantly less bothered by this emotional development. “I had to hide all the dog-related things I had to buy in advance—”

“Which is why you didn’t want me cleaning,” Jeno says, understanding and amusement squeezing his eyes into cute crescent moons. “You didn’t find my present for you in all of your squirreling?”

Jaemin hesitates, unnerved, because no. No, he doesn’t think he has found Jeno’s present even in all his hiding. “No,” he says, unsure.

“Huh,” Jeno says, further amused, and kisses Jaemin’s nose.

“What is it?” Jamin asks, not thinking very clearly through insulted curiosity. “Where is it?”

Jeno rubs noses with him this time and shrugs. “Guess you’ll find out tonight. Merry Christmas.”

Jaemin presses his lips to Jeno’s cheek somewhat begrudgingly as he mentally trespasses on all of their nooks and crannies. “Merry Christmas,” he says back, but it probably doesn’t sound genuine because—

“Stop that.”

Jaemin grimaces. “I want to know.”

“Let  _ me _ keep a secret,” Jeno says, looking more tickled than anything else, and has to forcefully gather Jaemin closer to his chest as he goes limp and reluctant in his arms.

“I don’t like it,” Jaemin whines.

Jeno snorts and sneaks a kiss against Jaemin’s cheek. “Deal with it, cutie.”

“Ugh.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hoo boy ♡ I hope this lived up to all the expectations. Just... all of them. Whatever they were. Please forgive me if it didn't!!
> 
> As always, I'm so open to talking and comments and anons and whatever, honestly. Feel free to bug me! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/speckledsolana)  
> [curiouscat](https://t.co/zW26zmaxzw?amp=1)  
> [tellonym](https://tellonym.me/solananne)


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